Doll carrying a marking means and accessory with movable marking surface

ABSTRACT

A combination doll and accessory set wherein the doll has a movable body portion and a movable arm connected to the body portion and adapted to hold a paint brush or the like. The accessory set includes a platen on which paper or the like may be positioned to receive paint from the paint brush. The platen is mounted on a base structure in front of the doll, and a manually actuatable mechanism within the base structure is operatively connected to a mechanism on the doll whereby the mechanism within the platen base structure can be operated by a user, as by a crank. Rotation of the crank rotates the platen and simultaneously moves the doll&#39;&#39;s body portion and arm back and forth to carry the paint brush therewith alternately between the platen and a paint container positioned alongside the doll but spaced from the platen.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,834,070 Breslow et a]. Sept. 10, 1974[5 DOLL CARRYING A MARKING MEANS 3,629,971 12 1971 Antell et al. 46/116x AND ACCESSORY WITH MOVABLE 3,654,704 4/1972 Poglein 33/18 B MARKINGSURFACE 3,680,254 8/l972 Glass et al. 46/116 X [75] Inventors: JeffreyD. Breslow, Highland Park; FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS EugeneJaworski Park both Great Britain B of I11. Primary Examiner-F. BarryShay [73] Asslgnee: Marvm Glass & Assoc'ates Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Coffee and Sweeney Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Jan. 26, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT [211 Appl 326,874 A combinationdoll and accessory set wherein the doll has a movable body portion and amovable arm connected to the body portion and adapted to hold a [52]U.S. Cl. 46/116, 46/120, 33/27 L paint brush or the like. The accessorySet includes a [51] Int. Cl A63h 13/04 platen on Whieh paper or the kmay be positioned to [58] F ield of Search 33/18 B, 27 L; 46/ 1 l6,reeeive paint f the paint brush The platen is 46/ 1 l8, 1 19, 120, 2 5,247 mounted on a base structure in front of the doll, and a manuallyactuatable mechanism within the base struc- [56] References cued ture isoperatively connected to a mechanism on the UNITED STATES PATENTS dollwhereby the mechanism within the platen base 818,555 4/1906 structurecan be operated by a user, as by a crank. Ro- 894,205 7/1908 tation ofthe crank rotates the platen and simulta- 972,920 10/1910 neously movesthe dolls body portion and arm back 1,400,838 1921 and forth to carrythe paint brush therewith alterg h Rabena g nately between the platenand a paint container posic uman 3,343,281 9/1967 Greer et a] i i i i Ii i i U 46H 17 X tioned alongside the doll but spaced from the platen.3,581,433 6/1971 Meyer et al 46/116 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP! 0 I914 SHEET 1 OF 2 w mm mm y \NN Q" 22% Q 3 PATENTEDSEPI 0 m4 saw2 OF 2 BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates todolls, and more particularly to a combination doll and accessoryapparatus.

In recent years a great number of different types of dolls have beendeveloped and marketed which are capable of performing simulated humanfunctions. These include dolls that walk, dance, apparently verballyrespond to external stimulus, and the like. There has further been thedevelopment of dolls which can apparently participate with the child insome sort of an activity. These include dolls that repeat or simulatewriting in unison with writing movements of the child by interconnectingmechanism, as well as dolls which apparently perform such activities asoperating an electric mixer within a mixing bowl. Those dolls whichappear to be capable of simulating human functions in response toinstructions, usually in the form of instructional manual manipulations,are of greater fascination to children as well as furthering theireducation and developing manual dexterity. This invention is directedtowards contributing to the continuing need and desire in the art toprovide an improved doll which is capable of simulating human functionsand participating with a child.

This invention is directed, in brief, to the provision of an improveddoll and related auxiliary apparatus for performing a simulated humanfunction.

The principal object, therefore, of the present invention is to providea combination doll and accessory set of the character described.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, a dished out platen isrotatably mounted on top of an upright supporting structure which, inturn, is mounted on a generally flat support base. A crank member ispivot ally mounted on the front of the upright support structure andprotrudes forwardly from the front thereof for rotation by a child. Thecrank is connected to a gear train on the inside of the supportstructure for rotating the platen. The platen is a dished out structurehaving a generally flat bottom wall for receiving a sheet of paper, orthe like, on which painting markings are made.

The doll itself is positionable behind the platen and has an upper torsoportion movable relative to a lower torso portion, an arm member movablerelative to the upper torso portion, and a head reciprocally movable ontop of the upper torso portion. The arm member has a hand portion forreceiving a paint brush or the like for painting on a sheet of paperpositioned on top of the platen. A paint receptacle is mounted on theflat base alongside of the doll. Mechanism which is mounted on theinside of the doll is operatively connected through a flexible cable tothe operative mechanism on the inside of the platen support structure sothat the various parts of the doll are moved in response to a userrotating the aforementioned crank member. In particular, the doll ismade to alternately turn and move the paint brush between a paintingposition above the platen and a paint dipping position above the paintreceptacle, all in response to rotation of the crank member which alsorotates the platen-and the sheet of paper positioned thereon.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of thecombination doll and accessory set of this invention, with the dollcomponents facing forward in a painting position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. 1 but with the dollupper torso portion and arm pivoted to receive paint from the paintreceptacle;

FIG. 3 is a front to rear vertical section, on an enlarged scale,through the platen, its support structure and the doll, with the dolIshead broken away;

. FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 4-4 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken generally along the line 66 of FIG.4; and

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a portion of the base structure takengenerally in the direction of line 7-7 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The combination doll and relatedaccessories of the present invention includes a doll, generallydesignated I0, and accessory components, generally designated 12a and1211, which are mounted on a generally flat base structure 14. The doll10 is positionable on the flat base structure 14. The accessory 12adefines a marking or painting area and, as described in greater detailhereinafter, has a platen defining a marking surface, generallydesignated 16, for receiving a sheet of paper 18, or the like, on whichthe doll apparently paints a design. The accessory 12b is a paintreceptacle and, as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 and as described ingreater detail hereinafter, the doll is movable between positions whereit apparently paints designs in the position shown in FIG. 1 and whereit accumulates paint onto marking means in the form of a paint brush 20in a dipping" motion when in the position shown in FIG. 2. The doll andaccessory together contain drive means for moving the doll and platen inresponse to manipulation by a user.

The platen accessory 12a is shown best in section in FIG. 3 where it canbe seen that the platen 16 is a dished out structure having a generallyflat bottom wall 22 on which the paper 18 is positionable, with afrustoconical side wall 24 surrounding the paper. The platen 16 isrotatably mounted on top of an upright support structure in the form ofa housing 26 within which is mounted a mechanism or means for rotatingthe platen.

generally along More particularly the drive means includes a crankmember 28, having a manually manipulatable handle portion 30, protrudingforwardly from the support structure or housing 26 and extending intothe housing through an aperture 32. The crank 28 is connected at itsinner end to the rotating means or mechanism, which includes a gearmember 34 which is part of a gear train, generally designated 36,rotatably mounted within the housing 26 on a generally U-shaped bracket38. Gear member 34 is in mesh with a smaller diameter gear member 40rotatably mounted within the bracket 38 by a shaft member 42. Thus thespeed of rotation is stepped up from the larger gear 34 to the smallergear 40. The front end of the shaft 42 is fixed to a cup gear 44 havinga circular row of gear teeth 44a which are in mesh with a smaller gear46 fixed to an upright rotatable shaft 48. Again, there is a step up ofspeed from gear 44 to gear 46. The upright shaft 48 is journalled in thebracket 38 and extends upwardly through an aperture 50 in the top of thehousing 26. The shaft is connected to the platen 16 by means of anirregularly shaped plug 52 positioned within a complementarily shapedsocket 54 on the underside of the bottom wall 22 of the platen.

Thus, as the crank 28 is rotated by a user grasping the handle portion30 thereof, that rotational motion is transmitted through the gear train36, particularly gears 34 and 40, to the platen 16 through the gears 44and 46, the latter of which is" connected to the shaft 48. Due to thespeed step-up from the gears, the platen 16 is caused to rotate at asubstantially faster speed than the crank 28. In fact, due to the massof the platen, somewhat of a flywheel effect is created and, if thecrank is rotated sufficiently fast, paint deposited on the sheet 18 willbe caused to spread radially outwardly under centrifugal force as theplaten is rotated.

The upright housing or support structure 26 for the platen 16 has a flatbase 56 which is positioned on top of the generally flat base structure14. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 7, a pin 58 protrudes upwardly from thebase structure 14 through an elongated slot 60 in the base 56 for theplaten whereby the entire housing or support structure 26, and thus theplaten 16, can be moved back and forth between limit positions definedby the ends of the slot 60. This movement affords a degree of patternchanging for the design which is painted on the paper 18, by being ableto adjust the platen bodily relative to the doll l and paint brush 20.

The doll has the usual head 62, torso, generally designated 63, a pairof arms 64a and 64b, and a pair of legs 66. The torso 63 is comprised ofan upper torso portion 68 mounted for limited pivotal or twistingmovement relative to a lower torso portion 70. The legs 66 are rotatablymounted to the trunk of the lower torso portion 70 by means ofcylindrical portions 72 received within apertures 74 in the lower torsoportion, with a circular or annular flange 76 extending radiallyoutwardly from each of the cylindrical portions 72 on the inside of thelower torso portion 70.

The arms 64a and 64b are rotatably mounted on the side of the uppertorso portion 68 by means of a ball and socket type joint, with anenlarged ball portion 78 snap fit within a smaller diameter aperture 80in the shoulder areas of the upper torso portion 68. Arm 64a terminatesin a hand which carries brush 20.

Before going into the operating mechanism for the doll, it should bepointed out briefly that the dolls right arm 64a is mechanically movablerelative to the upper torso portion 68, the upper torso portion 68 ismechanically movable relative to the lower torso portion 70 in atwisting type action, and the head 62 is reciprocally movable in alimited up and down bobbing motion,

The mechanism or doll moving means for moving the various components ofthe doll is shown best in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6. Referring first to FIG. 3,the doll is operatively connected to the crank 28 by means of aconnecting member shown as a flexible stub-like rotatable cable 82. Thecable 82 has an irregularly shaped socket 84 on the front end thereoffor receiving a complementarily shaped plug 86 which is fixed to therear end 88 of the crank 28. Thus, as the crank is rotated by a user,the cable 82 also is rotated at the same speed.

The, rear end of the cable 82 has an irregularly shaped plug 90 which isreceived within a complementarily shaped socket 92 rotatably connectedto the doll moving means in the front of the lower torso portion 70within an aperture 94 in the lower torso portion. The

inner end of the socket 92 is fixed to a plate 96. A shaft member 98 isfixed to the plate 96 for rotation therewith. The shaft 98 is spacedradially outwardly from the axis of rotation of the socket 92 so as tobe eccentric thereto. The shaft 98 extends rearwardly within the lowertorso portion 70 and is connected at its rear end to another plate 100which is similar to plate 96 and which is pivotally mounted by means ofa pin 102 to a boss 104 formed integrally with the inside of the lowertorso portion 70. The pin 102 is concentric with the axis of rotation ofthe socket 92. Thus, as the socket 92 is rotated in response to rotationof the crank 28, the shaft 98 rotates in an eccentric path which isshaped in the form of a cylinder about the axis of pin 102 and socket92.

In order to rotate the upper torso portion 68 relative to the lowertorso portion 70 between the positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a framepiece 106 is fixed to the upper torso portion and extends downwardlyinto the lower torso portion through an enlarged opening 108, as bestseen in FIG. 4. The frame piece 106 has an inverted U-shaped portion atthe lower end thereof defining downwardly depending ears 110a and 11017positioned on opposite sides of the shaft 98. The shaft 98 is shown inFIG. 4 in one extreme side position bearing against the ear 1100 whichdefines the forwardly facing position of the doll as shown in FIGS. Iand 4. As the shaft 98 is rotated by the crank 28, away from theposition shown in FIG. 4, the shaft 98 will come into abutment with theear 11% and move the frame piece 106 in the direction of arrow A (FIG.4) to cause the upper torso portion 68 of the doll to move or twistsideways relative to the lower torso portion 170 to the position shownin FIG. 2.

Simultaneously with the movement of the upper torso portion 68, theright arm 64a of the doll is caused to move upwardly lifting the paintbrush 20 away from the platen I6 and then move the arm and brush backdownwardly toward the paint receptacle 12b when the doll reaches theside facing position shown in FIG. 2. More particularly, a flexiblestrap 112 extends through apertures 114 and 116 in the upper torsoportion 68 and an aperture 118 in the lower torso portion 70. A levermember 120 is pivotally mounted by a pin 122 to a pair of tabs 124 onthe inside of the lower torso portion 70. The lever is connected to thelower end of strap 112 by a pin 126. The upper end of the strap 112 isconnected to a pin 128 which protrudes rearwardly from an enlarged shaftportion 130 fixed to the ball portion 78 of the dolls right arm 64a onthe inside of the upper torso portion 68. The weight of the arm 64ashould be sufficient to normally bias the enlarged shaft portion 130 inthe direction of arrow B (FIG. 3) to bias the lever member 120 againstthe underside of the eccentric plate 100 which rotates with the crank28, as described above. Thus, as best seen in FIG. 4, as the shaft 98 isrotated clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 4, the eccentricportion" of the plate 100 will come into abutment with the top of thelever 120 and cause the lever to move downwardly about pivot pin 122.This causes the flexible strap 112 to move downwardly in the directionof arrow C (FIG. 4) which, in turn, pulls on the pin 128 to rotate theshaft 130 opposite the direction of arrow B (FIG. 3) and raise the dollsright arm 64a along with the paint brush 20. As the shaft 98 continuesto rotate, it will bear against the car 11% to pivot the upper torsoportion 58 to the right toward the paint receptacle 12b, while at thesame time the eccentric portion of plate 100 will move upwardly off ofthe lever 120 and permit the arm 64a to move downwardly to pick up paintat the paint receptacle 12b. As the shaft 98 continues to rotate to comeback to the position shown in FIG. 4, it will bear against ear 110a andmove the upper torso 68 back to the forwardly facing position and movethe paint brush into paint depositing position above the platen.However, the paint brush must be raised slightly to lift it out of thepaint at receptacle 12b before the shaft 98 engages ear 1100 to pivotthe upper torso. This is accomplished by shaping plate 100 so that theradial distance between the axis of pin 102 and the perimeter of theplate 100 at point 100a (FIG. 4) is slightly greater than the radialdistance between the axis of pin 102 and the perimeter of the plate 100at point 100!) (FIG. 4).

Movement of the head 62 relative to the upper torso portion 68 iseffected by means of a lever member 131 having an inverted U-shapedportion at the lower end thereof defining downwardly depending ears 132aand 1321). A tab 134 is fixed to the shaft portion 130 for the dollsright arm 64a and extends upwardly between the ears 132a and l32b. Theupper end of the lever member 131 is fixed to a shaft 136 which also isfixed to a cylindrical portion 138 on the inside of the dolls head 62.The cylindrical portion loosely surrounds a cylindrical member 139 onthe top of the upper torso portion 68. Thus, as the dolls right arm 64ais raised, the tab 134 on the shaft portion 130 of the arm engages ear132b and causes the dolls head to tilt slightly forward. As the dollsarm again is lowered, the tab 134 will abut against ear 132a and causethe dolls head again to tilt back upwardly.

Thus it can be seen that the doll moving means causes relative movementof the dolls upper and lower torso portions, the relative movementbetween the dolls right arm and the upper torso portion, and themovement of the dolls head portion relative to the upper torso portion.The actuation of the doll moving means is synchronized for movement inresponse to rotation of the crank 28. The combination of the doll movingmeans and the rotating means comprises the means by which the doll andplaten are driven.

The paint receptacle 12b is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 and includes anupright post member 140 fixed to the top of the flat base 14 andextending upwardly therefrom. A receptacle plate 142 is rotatablymounted by means of a screw 144 and washer 146 to the top of the post140 for rotation in the plane of the plate 142 about the upright axis ofthe post. The plate has a plurality of recesses 148 spaced thereaboutfor receiving different colors of paint 150. The paint receptacle 12b ispositioned so that the paint brush 20 will be dipped into a particularone of the recesses 148 as shown in FIG. 2. In order to change the colorof paint to be applied to the paper 18, the receptacle plate 142 simplyis rotated to bring another of the recesses 148 into the position of theparticular recess as shown in FIG. 2.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in theart.

We claim: 1. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising:

an accessory comprising means defining a marking area including meansdefining a movably mounted marking surface for holding material to bemarked;

means defining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking areaincluding a torso having a head mounted on the top thereof and armsconnected to said torso with a hand at the end of at least one of thearms, said one arm being mounted for movement relative to said torsosaid doll and accessory including selectively actuatable drive means formoving said arm between a first position wherein said hand is generallyover said marking surface and a second position away from said markingsurface defining a substantially constant path of travel therebetween;marking means mounted on the hand of the movable arm for movementtherewith so that said marking means will contact material on saidmarking surface when said arm is in said first position; and

said drive means being operably connected to said movable arm and saidmarking surface for moving said arm between said positions while, at thesame time, moving said marking surface relative to said marking meanswhen said movable arm is in said first position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said drive means includes arotatable manually manipulatable member mounted on said accessory,rotating means mounted on said accessory operably associated betweensaid manually manipulatable member and said marking surface for rotatingsaid marking surface when said member is rotated, and doll moving meansmounted in said torso and operably associated between said manuallymanipulatable member and said movable arm for moving it between itspositions when said manually manipulatable member is rotated.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said drive means includes aconnecting member for connecting the manually manipulatable drive memberwith said doll moving means so that rotation of the manipulatable membercauses actuation of said doll moving means.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said drive means includes meansfor rotating said marking surface about an axis generally perpendicularto said marking surface.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein said marking surface is movablerelative to the doll, when said one arm and said marking surface aredrivingly connected in a direction transverse to said axis of rotationthereof.

ing surface and the doll arm and hand.

1. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising: an accessorycomprising means defining a marking area including means defining amovably mounted marking surface for holding material to be marked; meansdefining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking area including atorso having a head mounted on the top thereof and arms connected tosaid torso with a hand at the end of at least one of the arms, said onearm being mounted for movement relative to said torso said doll andaccessory including selectively actuatable drive means for moving saidarm between a first positiOn wherein said hand is generally over saidmarking surface and a second position away from said marking surfacedefining a substantially constant path of travel therebetween; markingmeans mounted on the hand of the movable arm for movement therewith sothat said marking means will contact material on said marking surfacewhen said arm is in said first position; and said drive means beingoperably connected to said movable arm and said marking surface formoving said arm between said positions while, at the same time, movingsaid marking surface relative to said marking means when said movablearm is in said first position.
 2. The combination of claim 1 whereinsaid drive means includes a rotatable manually manipulatable membermounted on said accessory, rotating means mounted on said accessoryoperably associated between said manually manipulatable member and saidmarking surface for rotating said marking surface when said member isrotated, and doll moving means mounted in said torso and operablyassociated between said manually manipulatable member and said movablearm for moving it between its positions when said manually manipulatablemember is rotated.
 3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said drivemeans includes a connecting member for connecting the manuallymanipulatable drive member with said doll moving means so that rotationof the manipulatable member causes actuation of said doll moving means.4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said drive means includes meansfor rotating said marking surface about an axis generally perpendicularto said marking surface.
 5. The combination of claim 2 wherein saidmarking surface is movable relative to the doll, when said one arm andsaid marking surface are drivingly connected in a direction transverseto said axis of rotation thereof.
 6. The combination of claim 1 whereinsaid doll moving means is operably connected to said head for effectingrelative movement between the doll head and body simultaneously with themovement of said marking surface and the doll arm and hand.
 7. Thecombination of claim 1 wherein said doll body has upper and lower torsoportions and said doll moving means is operably connected to said torsoportions for effecting relative movement between said torso portionssimultaneously with the movement of said marking surface and the dollarm and hand.